WTTW to broadcast The Last Pullman Car for Labor Day and #KTQ50

August 29, 2016
1:44 pm

WTTW, Chicago's premier public television station, will broadcast Kartemquin's 1983 film The Last Pullman Car at 10PM on Thursday September 1, as part of a year-long series honoring our 50th Anniversary. Encore broadcasts will also happen on Labor Day, Monday September 5, at 10PM, and again at 10PM on Tuesday September 6.

In 1864, George Pullman began selling his famous railroad sleeping cars which helped him build a vast industrial empire that was supposed to last forever. In 1981, however, Pullman workers found themselves in the midst of a fight not only for their jobs but the future of the American rail car industry. The Last Pullman Car follows the government, union, and corporate policies spanning over a century in this captivating story directed and produced by Gordon Quinn and Jerry Blumenthal.

The film was hailed as "A battlecry!" by Studs Terkel. It won First Prize at the Athens International Film Festival, an Honorable Mention at the 1984 American Film Festival, and screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival and the Big Muddy Film Festival.

In 2012, thanks to efforts by Kartemquin's former Post-Production and Preservation Associate Nora Gully, the National Film Preservation Fund restored the original print of The Last Pullman Car, and we released the film on DVD, which includes special features such as the film subjects' emotional return to the building of the former plant to watch the film with an invited audience, and an interview with the filmmakers. Purchase the DVD here.

Kartemquin 50th Anniversary WTTW broadcast schedule
January 21, 10pm - The Homestretch (2014)
February 25, 10pm - The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013)
March 24, 9pm - Now We Live on Clifton (1974) and Winnie Wright, Age 11 (1974).
April 21, 10pm - Golub: Late Works are the Catastrophes (2004)
May - Prisoner of Her Past (2009)
June - Hoop Dreams (1994)
July - Almost There (2014)
August - The Chicago Maternity Center Story (1976)
September - The Last Pullman Car (1983)
October - In the Game (2015)
November - Vietnam, Long Time Coming (1998)
December - TBA

Other highlights of Kartemquin’s 50th anniversary year include several retrospectives and screenings in Chicago and nationwide; an art exhibit; a book; workshops, panels, and master classes; and online streaming of the organization’s entire catalog of award-winning documentaries via http://watch.kartemquin.com. The full calendar, which will be updated throughout the year as new events and partners are added, is available at www.KTQ50.org. Join the conversation on Twitter at @Kartemquin or by using #KTQ50.